


A Knight's Oath

by cruellae (tinkabelladk)



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: BFFs, Friends to Lovers, M/M, knightly love, other characters to be added - Freeform, somewhat AU, very minor dub con in ch 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 12:23:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16305152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinkabelladk/pseuds/cruellae
Summary: I loved the relationship between Hendrik and Jasper, and thought it deserved a closer examination. It's hard to reveal more without spoilers. The first chapter has spoilers if you haven't finished the Yggdrasil part yet. Spoiler warnings for later chapters will be in the notes.





	A Knight's Oath

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers if you have not finished Yggdrasil yet. Beware!

Hendrik’s armor shone a glossy black—he had spent a great deal of time thinking about this moment, and the life-changing decision that it would mark. He wore his cape, the one reserved for the most formal of occasions, and it flared out behind him as he strode through the halls of Heliodor castle a newly free man. The king had been shocked when Hendrik asked to be released from his knightly oath, but had not protested once Hendrik promised he would still be a loyal servant of king and kingdom whenever needed.

Now Hendrik stood outside the chambers that belonged to his dearest friend and comrade, and took a deep breath before he knocked with one gauntleted hand on the door. And then he waited. His heart was steady and stalwart in battle, but it beat a fast, dizzy tempo now, as Jasper opened the door.

“Hendrik,” he said, and smiled. There was an edge to his smiles of late, a distance between him and Hendrik that had never been there before.

The last time they spoke, Jasper had been cold, bitter. He’d accused Hendrik of valuing everything—the kingdom, the fame and admiration that came from his status, the commands of the king—above their friendship. He’d called Hendrik a traitor, one who had turned his back on a partnership that had begun when they were just boys and sustained them through their brutal, rigorous training and beyond. And then he had spoken of his own failures, his own worthlessness, with such despair it made Hendrik’s heart ache. Something wasn’t right with Jasper, and something had gone sour between them.

But today, Hendrik would fix that.

“Can I come in?” Hendrik asked. “I need to speak to you about something.”

Jasper stepped aside, letting Hendrik into large, posh quarters with plush upholstered furniture and a grand king bed. It was a stark contrast to Hendrik’s own austere room, but he didn’t judge Jasper for it. Jasper came from nothing, and it left a hole in him that neither riches nor fame nor praise could fill. Hendrik, having his own deficits, understood.

Hendrik shut the door behind them, and Jasper raised an eyebrow at him in a way that made his stomach flutter, his nerves tremble. Jasper had always been able to throw him off guard, in a way that was more exhilarating than fearful. He was the only one who could.

“The king has released me from my oath,” Hendrik said.

Jasper raised his eyebrows. “What did you do, Hendrik?”

“I asked him to.”

“Why on Erdrea would you ask that?”

“So that I could swear it to someone else.”

Jasper’s eyes got even wider when Hendrik got down on his knees, the mithril of his armor clunking softly against the stone floor. “No,” he whispered.

“You mean more to me than anyone else on Erdrea,” Hendrik said. “And I know you to be a strong warrior and a good man. My guiding light, among the darkness. I offer you my loyalty and my life, if you’ll accept it.”

“Is this a joke, Hendrik?” Jasper said, his voice a low hiss, his hands clenched into fists. “I’ll kill you if this is some kind of sick joke.”

“You know me better than that,” Hendrik said.

Jasper studied him for a long time, with a coldness that Hendrik didn’t understand, but was determined to banish, with his friendship and care. And then Jasper smiled, and it was both kind and cunning. “I accept,” he said, and Hendrik let out a long, silent breath.

He got to his feet, his heart jubilant. He wanted to hug Jasper, but in full plate armor it would have been awkward at best, and Jasper had never been one for physical affection anyway. “We can set the ceremony for tomorrow. I’ll notify the king and—”

“Not yet,” Jasper said. “I want this to be between you and me, for now.”

Hendrik smiled at him. He liked that they had a secret, it felt like the days of old. “Then we’ll call it official now,” he said, and bowed his head briefly in respect. “I’m yours, Jasper, for anything and everything.”

#

Jasper’s heart was twined of light and dark, each fighting for dominance. At times the light glowed brighter, but at others the darkness threatened to consume him. It scared him, but in a twisted way he wanted it to take him, if only to put an end to this tug-of-war, his soul the prize.

Hendrik’s oath had left him speechless, a display of devotion that made his heart sing—what of it was left intact. But in response to that joy the darkness flared like a sudden shadow. It took his sweetest, deepest desires and twisted them, corrupted them, brought them to the surface and made them irresistible. The darkness could not allow Hendrik’s light to shine so brightly on Jasper. The bond between them had to be broken.

“I have a command for you, then, my knight,” Jasper said, and his voice was his own and not his own. Hendrik said nothing, but raised his eyebrow. “Take off that ridiculous armor, then your clothes.”

He knew, rationally, that the knight’s code did not compel Hendrik to do any such thing, but his heart desired _(gentle caresses on silken pillows)_ to see Hendrik humiliated, broken, ashamed. And so reality twisted for him, that the darkness in his heart might grow greater, that the guilt that would visit him later on would spur him into deeper despair.

He was hard before Hendrik finished taking off his gauntlets, but waited, patiently. Beneath his armor, Hendrik wore a simple, provincial tunic and worn trousers, and beneath that he was magnificent, a body honed for combat and marked by dozens of battles. The largest scar, stretching across his chest and shoulder, was from the swing of a sword meant for Jasper. Hendrik’s ridiculous heroics. _(Henrik_ _’s unwavering love.)_

“On your knees,” Jasper said, and there was something starkly erotic about being clothed while his lover was naked, about Hendrik, the saint of Heliodor, the noblest knight, kneeling on the stone floor, cock hard and eyes smoldering, waiting for Jasper to unfasten his trousers.

The heat of his mouth was a shock of pleasure, and as that moment built and built, the darkness within Jasper receded, beat back by Hendrik’s passion, his untiring devotion. So that after, instead of hurting him, Jasper took him to the bed and gently brought him to his peak, with kisses like he’d once dreamed about, as an adolescent to whom the world seemed so simple, and all that was in it was the knighthood, the training, and Hendrik. And Hendrik.


End file.
